January 24, 2006 Orlando, FL -- Agilent Technologies has introduced a handheld cable and fiber tester that the company says offers among the industry's fastest certification for Category 3 to Category 6a/7 cabling. The company says its WireScope Pro tester delivers superior near- and far-end crosstalk measurement performance, while enabling Alien Crosstalk (AXT) measurements, which the company says are critical for testing LAN cabling's suitability for running 10 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE).

"Driven by the deployment of triple-play services, Gigabit and 10 GbE are spreading across enterprise and service providers' network infrastructures," maintains Werner Berkel, vice president and general manager of Agilent's Photonic Measurement division. "The Agilent WireScope Pro tests Cat 3 to 6a/7 cable and optical fiber efficiently and completely. From triple play to pure play, no handheld tester certifies Ethernet cables faster or more completely."

According to the company, as an expandable platform, the WireScope Pro is available from Cat 3. to Cat 6. test capabilities, and will support upgrades to Cat. 6a/7 capability. The company says the platform's measurement speed capability boosts test throughput by a factor of three, compared with previous models. Automated point-to-point tests keep user interactions at a minimum to help prevent operator failures and unnecessary repetitions. The company says its Fiber SmartProbes cut test times of optical links by eliminating the need to swap fibers for bidirectional testing and calibration. Further, the company says its newly developed AXT test platform, based on the WireScope Pro, provides superior AXT measurement performance based on real-life crosstalk stimulation. The company says that previous network analyzer-based, one-hour measurements can run in five minutes using the new platform.

The company says the WireScope Pro platform exceeds TIA Level IV accuracy specifications, with compliance independently certified by ETL SEMKO (formerly Edison Testing Laboratory). With its 1 GHz of measurement frequency range, the platform covers today's fastest Ethernet standards and is ready for next-generation cables, according to the company.

The Agilent N2640A WireScope Pro handheld cable and fiber tester will be available in April 2006 at a list price of $7,700. The field-portable platform (9.1" x 5" x 3.4") supports up to eight hours of battery life, and includes a full-screen color LCD and intuitive touch-screen user interface, while supporting the company's ScopeData Pro software for professional graphical test reports.